[pg]

I think PB is too consistent to dismiss him as merely lucky. He didn't just happen to be an early employee at Google. He also wrote GMail (which entailed not only a redesign of the email experience, but also was a pretty dramatic evolutionary step in web apps because of its then extreme use of Javascript), built the first version of AdSense, and was the one who came up with "Don't be evil." It's unlikely to be a coincidence.

Nor does he have a hard time explaining what he did. He has spoken several times at Startup School about his approach to solving problems. I've learned a lot from him.

[joshstrike]

I'm not saying the guy isn't smart. Just throwing out a little "outliers" to grease the wheel for the rest of us donkeys.

Sometimes reasons to hope are not best expressed by those who have nothing to regret. This is one of those times.

[pg]

There are few people over the age of 5 who have nothing to regret, and I don't think PB is one of them.

[dschobel]

I'm with you on this one. After the initial 'serendipity' of google, PB's reputation was sealed and he could pick his title and company.

While it's interesting to speculate if PB had chosen a pets.com instead of google what would have happened to his career, it's not particularly constructive.

The idea that our success is largely beyond our control is sufficiently pernicious that we're all better off just pretending it is not the case and keeping our heads down and trying our damnedest.

[nl]

If PB had been at Pets.com then I'm guessing FriendFeed would have involved feeding dogs?